Worlds
by the lola
Summary: Severus and Luna, drawn together in many circumstances, in different worlds and different timelines; lightness and darkness are drawn to one another. 'Loving her is not his job. Crushing her is his job, and he fails.' / 'Still, she knows a lost soul when she sees one. Merlin knows, she is one.' / 'Everyone has a coping mechanism and maybe they have become each other's.'
1. 1

**Word Count:** 322

 **Warnings:** None

 **Challenge/Competition:** The 5 Drabbles Competition

 **Prompt/s:** Luna/Severus  & (object) leaves

 **Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

 **Note:** Slightly AU world here - as though the war is extended.

* * *

'I imagine the world is still very beautiful despite all of this. The leaves will always be green... the sun will always shine... the flowers will always be vibrant. No amount of evil can blacken nature,' she says as he slides open her prison.

It's just another of many completely _Luna_ sentences. She's sewn herself so tightly under his skin and interlaced with his veins and as it grows each day he find that he just cannot shake her.

As much as this war and this duplicity has been eating away at his sanity, this is so much worse. She is just a girl. A girl who is probably hinging between sanity and insanity, too, and she could never love him.

He stares at her, swallowing the bile creeping its way up his throat. He does not reply. He cannot reply. Fear freezes his insides - fear that he will say something too kind, do something too kind, that he will do anything except from scare her, really.

Loving her is not his job. Crushing her is his job, and he fails. She holds onto these fragments of the world that attach her and her sanity together, just enough for her to keep going.

'Is the world still as beautiful as I imagine, Severus?' she prompts, too calmly considering her situation and the cold, hard concrete room that surrounds her.

All he can do - still taking every ounce of strength he has - is nod. Because she is right. And she smiles and closes her eyes, and thousands of tiny daggers stab at his heart as she imagines the world she hasn't seen in three months.

Silence hangs in the air. She stares at him, those oceans for eyes piercing his insides.

'I'll get you out of here,' he says, suddenly, before clamping his mouth shut when he realises the repercussions that come with the words that just fell from his mouth. 'You deserve to see the world again.'

* * *

 **AN:** So, uh, weird pairing, right? I almost dropped the competition, but then I thought I just had to give it a go haha. These will all be AU but one, as obviously it's basically the premise of the drabble collection: all the different life times in which they could've ended up together! Hope this is enjoyed, reviews would be soooooo appreciated. X


	2. 2

**Word Count:** 348

 **Warnings:** None

 **Challenge/Competition:** The 5 Drabbles Competition

 **Prompt/s:** Luna/Severus  & (event) recital

 **Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

 **Note:** Slightly AU world here - Snape did not die!

* * *

He stands at the edge of the room, watching as the children take to centre stage one by one and perform. It is all very muggle, he thinks, but he actually starts to _enjoy_ it. Lily Potter comes onstage and sings, beautifully. Just the name sends daggers through his heart.

He scans the crowd and sees her parents, a lot of Weasley's, many Hogwarts alumni. And then his eyes fall onto someone else in the corner - someone he hadn't thought of in years, someone he had barely remembered at all.

Lovegood… Luna? That was it. He finds himself oddly transfixed on her, her dreamy expression throughout the performance. Maybe it's something about the darkness that forever dwells inside of him and the light that seems to envelope her, but it's as though he is being drawn toward her like a fish to a line and it takes everything within him to stop himself from walking straight over there.

What has gotten into him? He has never felt like this. Well… he has, he admits, but it is always _her_ , only _her_. Maybe his age has finally hit him and his sanity is starting to fragment, he decides.

After the performance he seeks solace in the empty corridor, rubbing his hands over his face, telling himself to stop being so utterly ridiculous. 'I saw you looking at me,' she says, appearing out of nowhere, and he jolts in fright.

'You... look different,' he replies, voice so shaky it sounds alien to him.

'Do I?' she asks, pulling her silky locks to one shoulder.

He nods, attempting to muster a position and expression of strength and hardness.

'Well. It was nice to see you,' she tells him, smiling.

She stands still for a few seconds in silence, their eyes locking on each other. Tension builds inside of him and confusion buzzes in his head till he can no longer bear, so he gives in and casts his eyes to the floor. Before he knows it she is gone, and he is questioning himself for the first time in years.


	3. 3

**Word Count:** 298

 **Warnings:** None

 **Challenge/Competition:** The 5 Drabbles Competition

 **Prompt/s:** Luna/Severus  & (object) watermelon

 **Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

 **Note:** Actually no AU here! Haha

* * *

She drops the final ingredient into her potion and stirs, it once again becoming a sickly green. Frowning, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, looking around the room. She is the last one left. 'Professor Snape?' she asks, and he turns to her. 'I think the Nargles are playing in my potions. It just won't go right… May I leave? I'm happy to try another day.'

This happens to her _a lot_. She just isn't meant to be good at potions, and she doesn't mind, really. Snape offers to take her through it step by step so she smiles thankfully and nods. She doesn't really understand what everyone else despises in him - she sees the good in him. Maybe in doing that, she brings it out.

'So. A drop of acromantula venom, then three cat hairs, the eye of newt, and four measures of octopus powder. You start like this,' he explains, demonstrating to her. She nods and watches, zoning out into the calming monotone of his voice.

And then he lets her do the last step, and the potion again turns a sickly green. She looks to him, expecting to see anger or disappointment or some form of negativity - something he is never short of. 'Do not worry. I have a trick for you,' he tells her. 'Watermelon.'

'Watermelon?' she asks, frowning at her bubbling green potion.

'It neutralises most potions if they need it. I trust you to keep that between us - it is a cheat of forms,' he tells her. 'Try it next time you need to.'

He brushes her hand when he reaches for the leftover ingredients, and she is sure that warm sparks explode underneath her skin. She frowns, and looks at him. Nargles.


	4. 4

**Word Count:** 370

 **Warnings:** None

 **Challenge/Competition:** The 5 Drabbles Competition

 **Prompt/s:** Luna/Severus  & (event) day in the park

 **Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

 **Note:** Slightly AU world here - as though Snape did not die.

* * *

Luna pushes one swing and then the other, both of her little cherubs squealing in excitement as she does. She draws in a sharp breath, hurt squeezing her insides as she watches the happiness twinkling in their matching jade eyes and all she can see is Rolf.

Two years on, and every single day they look more and more alike their father. The fact that she can remember him through them gives her more joy than she could ever imagine, but it also causes her almost endless pain. She sighs, shaking away the thoughts, focusing on her boys.

'Shall we go on the slide?' she asks, smiling and pushing the swing higher.

'No!' Lorcan shouts.

'We want to go higher!' Lysander chimes in, kicking his legs in the air happily.

She laughs in response, continuing to push them higher. She lets go, looking around.

'Luna Lovegood?' a familiar voice that she places in seconds calls her from behind, and she turns around.

'Professor Snape, hello, how have you been?' she asks, walking away from her giggling boys and towards him.

'It has been a long time. Call me Severus, please, I am no longer a professor - let alone yours. How strange I should bump into you here,' he replies, avoiding her question. 'Your boys are lovely. How old?'

'Four,' she answers. 'We moved here just over two years ago.'

He nods, smiling at them. Silence ensues. She stares at him, noticing that the man in front of her barely resembles the one that she used to know. 'You look like you could use a friend,' she remarks, without even hesitating. The defeated expression he appears to wear and the sadness she feels coming off of him in waves is too much.

'Oh, no - just nice to see a familiar face,' he stutters, clearly taken aback.

Still, she knows a lost soul when she sees one. Merlin knows, she is one. She finds she cannot fight the urge to help, to know more. 'We were just going to have lunch. Would you like to come?'

She watches as his expression flickers. He opens his mouth and then closes it again, conflicted. 'Okay. Thank you.'


	5. 5

**Word Count:** 250

 **Warnings:** None

 **Challenge/Competition:** The 5 Drabbles Competition

 **Prompt/s:** Luna/Severus  & (song) BoB ft. Hayley Williams - Airplanes

 **Disclaimer:** I don't claim to own Harry Potter, it's all JKR's.

 **Note:** Slightly AU world here - as though all of the Order are living together for many months throughout an extended war.

* * *

He sits at the kitchen table, staring at a newspaper and pretending to read it. She leans against the kitchen counter, making cups of coffee for no one in particular. They have fallen into routine - both preferring to be alone yet finding this easiest in each other's company.

She wants to challenge him on what he is reading, for she knows it is nothing and he is not really reading and it has been the same paper for the past month straight. But she doesn't, because she understands, and she knows that he does too because he always accepts her cups of coffee despite the fact that he never drinks them. It doesn't matter. None of it matters.

They do what they need to do to get by. To live under the whole of the Order's feet. Everyone has a coping mechanism and maybe they have become each other's, she supposes. The silence rarely breaks, but when it does it's like they were never student and teacher with years and years separating them - it's as though they have years and years _behind_ them, completely comfortable with one another.

'If you could have one wish, what would it be?' he suddenly asks her one day, as she stirs a cup of coffee and he keeps his eyes set on the paper.

'For this all to be over,' she replies without even having to think. 'Coffee?' she asks, setting it down on his paper without an answer.

'Me too,' he says, nodding. The silence resumes.

* * *

 **AN:** I really like this one! So that's it - I guess! I feel like some of them could do with a little continuing, but I'm unsure if I'd ever get around to it. I am keen to do this type of drabble collection for other pairings though so am open to requests - drop me a review and let me know! Thanks guys :)


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